Making Your Garage Door Operation Quieter With Precision Door
When you move to a new home in southern California, you can typically count on everything functioning as it should. Perhaps you purchased a home that’s new to you though. It had a previous owner, and although the home passed its inspection for the sale, you might find the garage door does not function as a precision door should.
Garage doors make noise when operating but some types of garage doors make a lot of noise because of their design. Poor installation or wear and tear can also cause a noisy garage door. This may cause you to look for southern California garage door repair almost as soon as you move into your home.
In this blog, we’ll consider the types of garage door openers and which functions the quietest. We’ll wrap up with a few specific garage door openers that offer the quietest operation.
Types of Garage Door Openers Precision Door Installs
Garage door design has come a long way since the earliest detached garages with their manual swing-open doors. Those provided quiet operation but you had to get out of your vehicle to open the doors.
Modern garage door design offers a plethora of door designs and six types of openers. At Precision Door, we install all types of garage door openers. This includes the following:
• Belt drive openers
• Chain drive openers
• DC-powered openers
• Direct drive openers
• Jackshaft drive openers
• Screw drive openers.
Of all of these, the jackshaft drive opener offers the quietest operation. The runners-up include the belt drive and the chain drive openers, but they lag far behind the jackshaft design due to inherent design differences. No garage door raises and lowers silently.
What Makes the Jackshaft Drive So Quiet?
Most garage doors use a design that places the operations motor for opening and closing the door on the ceiling or the lower wall. The jackshaft design uses a streamlined motor design that fits in a small space to the side of the upper area of the interior of the garage door. The efficient motor triggers a series of pulleys that raise the door. The latest design of this type of garage door opener contains minimal moving parts, a cable tension monitor and a magnetic lock.
Other Quiet Options
A belt drive opener uses a rubber belt instead of the metal chains typical of many garage door opener designs. The rubber provides quieter operation.
Chain drives also offer quieter operations than other types despite their metal chains.
Motor Size Matters
Choose an appropriately sized motor for the door opener, too. An opener with a too-small motor makes more noise because it struggles to open the door. Think of it in terms of a person grunting to move something heavy. The noise your garage door opener makes may stem from a tiny motor for a large door.
Most garage doors come with a 1/2 horsepower engine, but heavy doors, such as those with wood overlays, need a more powerful motor. Upgrading to a 3/4 horsepower motor can solve the problem.
The type of motor the opener uses matters, too. DC and AC motors function differently. The brush friction in an AC motor causes more noise than in a DC motor. DC options also build up less heat and use less energy.
Improving Your Current Garage Door Installation
Perhaps you’re not yet ready for a new door and garage door opener. Turn to Santa Maria garage door repair options to improve the function of your existing garage door and make its operation quieter.
1. A professional garage repair service will check your door’s balance. They can correct the problem of an imbalanced door by replacing the door springs or adding tension.
2. The door’s chain or belt tension could be either too loose or tight. This causes a loud noise that sounds like a ticking clock from the opener and heavy vibrations from the door. The noises stem from the belt or chain hitting the door’s steel boom. A garage door professional can also adjust the door’s tension to fix the problem.
3. A maintenance visit from a professional garage door installer can solve many noise issues, too. They’ll lubricate the system’s chain, if applicable, and the hinges, rollers and garage door tracks with a silicon-based spray. Sometimes the noise comes from the door, not the opener.
4. Have your garage door repairperson update your garage door opener to a more advanced model. This costs less than updating the entire door and opener system.
If you do need to replace your garage door opener to achieve a quieter operating garage door, six options top the list of those available for residential use.
Top Quiet Garage Door Openers to Try
To enjoy quiet precision door operation from your garage door opener, try one of the latest designs. These options offer the most advanced motor designs and jackshaft, belt or chain designs. The options include:
• Liftmaster 8500w
• Liftmaster 87504-267
• Liftmaster 84501
• Chamberlain RJO70
• Chamberlain B6753TC
• Chamberlain B6713T.
When you’re ready to upgrade your garage door opener, contact Precision Door. We provide the maintenance, repairs and installation for your garage door Paso Robles residents trust. We serve the greater San Luis Obispo area with garage door maintenance, repairs and installation. Contact us today for a maintenance or repair appointment.
